Qualcomm has signed a $ 1.4 billion deal to acquire NUVIA, a data center chip developer launched by former Apple executives.
Cristiano Amon, president and CEO-elect of Qualcomm, said in a press release Wednesday (Jan. 13) that the two companies have a “strong legacy” of developing advanced technologies. NUVIA’s “proven innovators” will complement Qualcomm, he said, and together they “are uniquely positioned to redefine IT… and drive innovation”.
Amon said that the dawn of the 5G era, the acceleration of mobile technology and the intersection of computing and mobile architectures, “are significant opportunities” for Qualcomm.
The addition of NUVIA processors will help make Qualcomm’s Snapdragon the platform of choice for the future of connected computing. It will complement Qualcomm’s mobile graphics processing unit (GPU), AI engine, DSP and dedicated media accelerators.
NUVIA processors will be integrated into the Qualcomm catalog of smartphones, laptops and digital cockpits, as well as advanced driver assistance systems, extended reality solutions and infrastructure network, according to the release.
“Creating high-performance, low-power processors and complex, highly integrated SoCs is in our DNA,” said Jim Thompson, CTO of Qualcomm. “The addition of NUVIA’s deep understanding of high-performance design and the integration of NUVIA processors with Snapdragon – along with our cutting-edge graphics and AI – will take compute performance to a new level and unleash new capabilities for products intended for several sectors.
Silicon Valley’s NUVIA was launched in 2019 by former Apple executives Gerard Williams III, John Bruno and Manu Gulati, who will all join Qualcomm, along with their employees. Together, the three have obtained 100 patents on 20 chips designed at AMD, Apple, Arm, Broadcom and Google, according to NUVIA. website.
The planned acquisition has the backing of Qualcomm’s large technology customers including Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic and others.
Qualcomm said in early 2020 that he plans to ship 1 billion 5G smartphones by 2023. Amon spoke at last year’s Computer Electronics Show and showcased the Yoga 5G, a dual laptop and tablet Lenovo 5G usage. The first deployment of 5G laptops is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X55 modem.
Ericsson said in November that the deployment of 5G technology was progressing faster than expected, in part thanks to the global pandemic. The Swedish telecommunications equipment giant has said 15% of the world’s population will live in areas with 5G.
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